Friday, November 04, 2005

What's next?

I really don't watch a lot of TV. In all the survey results I have seen (although I actually haven't been asked) I would be on the low end of the scale, 2-4 hours per week at the most. Recently NE Revolution soccer games have been the main attraction. Some of the major NE events (Patriots, Red Sox) are unavoidable. During the eighties, when they played "real" basketball, the Celtics were good to watch. Mystery on PBS, Good Eats on FoodNetwork, when the scheduled permits (which is not often). But most of the other stuff on TV, simply just does not interest me. I would rather read a book or cruise the blogosphere.

The ladies in the house however have some shows that are in the "must see" category. A couple of these I find myself getting drawn into just to follow along in the conversation around the table. Gilmore Girls and One Tree Hill are the current viewing points. I must say that I am disappointed in Gilmore Girls. This season is not as funny or interesting as last season. One Tree Hill however has kept the interest high. Maybe it is due to the realization that these folks are high school seniors. Let me see, isn't that what my youngest daughter is also? Is this what is going on at Franklin High? I think I need to be aware of this stuff. Carolyn, I think we need to talk.

Sometimes it seems like only yesterday but I can recall back in the late eighties, Thirtysomething was all the rage. We were living in New Jersey. Around our neighborhood and the workplace, the show dominated the conversations. Dolores and I were busy with our two young children at the time and 9:00 was too late for us. It wasn't until my former company moved us to Chicagoland where we could still have reading time with the girls before they went to bed, and be able to catch Thirtysomething because it came on at 8:00 CST. We were in our thirties and we could connect with many of the characters in the show. They were like us or people we knew.

The next big show, Friends, moved the subject age group into the twenties. The youngsters did not hold our attention. Dolores and I were now getting into our forties. Friends has since gone off the air and is replaced in the conversational space by the likes of One Tree Hill which takes the subject age down to high school teenagers. Now, because our daughters are teenagers, we are hooked back in. Does WB really have us in their demographic?

So what will be next?

Middle school soap operas? or will they skip middle school and go for elementary? or will they skip both (middle and elementary) and go for the kindergarten?

With the conversation around One Laptop Per Child, the thought does not seem so far fetched.

Where do we go from here?

What do you think?

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